Search Results (120)

The subject of this article is the centuries-old religious heritage of Vilnius. The aim of the article is to analyse this heritage and its reflection in the gaze of tourists. In particular, it focuses on selected Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, and Karaite sites. The methods used in the empirical study include the analysis of reviews posted on the Tripadvisor website by tourists from different countries who visited five selected sites: (1) St. Anne’s Church, (2) Holy Spirit Orthodox Church, (3) Evangelical Lutheran Church, (4) Vilnius Choral Synagogue, and (5) Kenesa. The authors employed the method of desk research, which involves the analysis of existing data. The selection of objects was made by indicating the most commented sites of a given religious tradition for which the most comments were received. In the light of the pervasive influence of social media, it is noteworthy to observe the contemporary representation of multi-religious Vilnius that is disseminated through this medium. Urban sacred spaces are not only places of worship of interest to religious people, including local and foreign pilgrims. Furthermore, they constitute an attractive urban heritage for a significant number of cultural tourists. Committed tourists, including cultural tourists, meticulously document their impressions in various forms of narrative, offering either endorsement or criticism of a particular object. In this manner, they also interpret elements of the heritage in the local urban space. Full article

The aim of the article is to analyze the relationship between the Christian faith and the spiritual traditions of the indigenous peoples of Latin America, seeking to identify elements that make it possible to trace paths of dialogue and mutual cooperation. It shows that historically, there have been tensions and conflicts between these traditions, but today, there is a path towards overcoming this reality through social solidarity, which serves as a basis for dialogue between the ways of believing. The research method is comparative and involves a qualitative analysis of the bibliography dealing with the relationship between the Church and Latin American indigenous spiritualities. The bibliographic base is documental, with emphasis on the conferences of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the Synod for the Amazon (2019) and the magisterium of Pope Francis, read from the perspective of the Second Vatican Council and the current theology of religions. The conclusion is that the Church is developing an important social dialogue to promote justice and the rights of indigenous peoples. This dialogue serves as the basis for a dialogue with the beliefs and spiritualities of these peoples. The challenge for this is to review mission objectives and methods in order to overcome the conversionist perspective in the relationship with indigenous peoples, taking paths of mutual respect and acceptance and valuing them beyond being the recipients of evangelization. In this way, indigenous spiritual traditions can be recognized not only as “seeds” of the Word to be developed by evangelization but as an already mature fruit of God’s relationship with these peoples. Full article

Education, understood as the process of forming the human person in their integral dimensions—spiritual, intellectual, moral, and social—occupies a key place in the reflection on the evangelizing mission of the Church. This article presents education as a form of integral evangelization based on the thought and activity of the Polish religious sister and mystic Blessed Marcelina Darowska (1827–1911). The initial part outlines the development of the concept of “integral evangelization” in the teachings of the Catholic Church and its relation to personalist pedagogy. The following section presents the figure of Blessed Marcelina Darowska and her educational initiative, situated in the 19th-century socio-historical context of partitioned Poland. The main section of the analysis focuses on Darowska’s concept of education as the formation of the whole person, encompassing the discernment of talents, intellectual, religious, and social development, and preparation for responsible family and civic roles. It also considers to what extent this vision of education can be identified as an expression of integral evangelization in accordance with the criteria of contemporary Church teaching. This article further presents the development of Blessed Marcelina’s educational work and its impact on forming generations of women conscious of their identity. The conclusion offers a reflection on the relevance and potential of this educational method in the context of contemporary social and religious challenges, particularly in the work of new evangelization. Full article

This article focuses on the Christian ecclesiastical footing and moorings of nationalist thought and pursuits within colonial Nyasaland and its postindependence iteration as the nation of Malawi. Attention is paid to foundational influences and the impact of European mission churches, beginning in the late 1800s, and three streams of American Christianity that influenced social development in Malawi: (1) historic African American Methodist and Baptist traditions; (2) Watchtower millenarianism; and (3) emerging mid-1900s expressions of predominantly white Pentecostal, charismatic, and evangelical Christianity. The article examines ways these European and American religious streams served as crucial catalysts for one or another form of African independency within the Malawi context, paying particular attention to the ways and degrees to which African innovations on Global North Christian expressions and paradigms proved disruptive to established authorities. Full article

This study examines the role of Christian missionary interpreters from the Open Port Period to the Japanese colonial era, highlighting their historical significance and influence. During the Open Port Period, missionaries relied on Korean language teachers to serve as interpreters, translators, evangelists, and preachers. Although their English proficiency was often limited, they played a crucial role in early Christian missions. In the Japanese colonial era, elite intellectuals who had studied abroad increasingly assumed interpretation roles, actively contributing to theological education and social reform. This study analyzes historical records, newspaper articles, and existing research to reconstruct the evolving role and broader impact of Christian interpreters. The findings suggest that missionary interpreters were not merely linguistic mediators but key figures in evangelism and social transformation. Furthermore, the study highlights the historical transition from consecutive interpretation to simultaneous interpretation in Korean churches and underscores the need for systematic training programs. Given the growing linguistic diversity in Korean congregations, churches must recognize the importance of trained interpreters in ensuring effective multilingual worship and uphold the legacy of missionary interpretation. Full article

This article, including the Introduction and Conclusion, consists of five parts. The first part discusses the role of the catechist in the early Church and its significance in the process of faith education, particularly during the preparation for receiving the sacraments of Christian initiation. The second part emphasizes the bearers of the catechetical ministry, i.e., bishops, priests, and consecrated persons, but also the Christ’s lay faithful, to whom special attention is given in the third part. This part describes the place and role of the lay faithful in the Church’s evangelizing mission, especially in light of the challenges posed by socio-cultural and religious changes. The fourth part, based on the Apostolic Letter in the form of a motu proprio, Antiquum Ministerium, in which Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechists, and the current state in the Church and socio-cultural context, highlights the reasons that contributed to the establishment of this ministry and the challenges it brings with its establishment. In the fifth part, based on the analysis of ecclesiastical activity in Germany, Italy, and Croatia, the current situation regarding the (non)introduction of a lay catechetical service in the mentioned countries is highlighted. Full article

This paper examines the practice of ‘Bible Noise’, a group which I led at a Church of England evangelical church that explored creative ways of reading aloud the Bible through sound art practice. Biblical engagement is central to evangelicals and I wanted to expand biblical engagement by using sonic performances through the use of our voices, thereby facilitating a more bodily encounter with scripture. ‘Noise’ in the group name alludes to the disruption that sound can generate and also alludes to the ‘noise’ of multivocality, since the Bible has many voices in it from authors, narrative characters, editors, compilers, translators, interpreters and so on. The ‘noise’ is also a disruption of the visual primacy of our current culture. Bible Noise explores ways in which different voices can be brought in to enrich our aural engagement with scripture by exploring five different ‘pieces’ or readings of scripture. In doing so it establishes a communal idea of scripture where the different voices within scripture can be heard, paying attention to their particularities. Listening to these voices and our own embodied enactment of them can enrich and deepen our perception and engagement of scripture by appreciating the chorus of voices that is the Bible, the collection of texts that forms a core of British evangelical practice and belief. Full article

“If there is no space in our faith communities where children can participate in theological work, how can children create a theology that will liberate them?” R.L. Stollar asks in his book, The Kingdom of Children: A Liberation Theology (2023). Popular Christian parenting literature since the 1970s has encouraged adults to view children as undisciplined trainees with little of value to offer their families and churches other than their obedience. Exploration of the recent history of Christian parenting literature and its intersections with politics and other Christian media reveals that there is substantial overlap between the communities most impacted by these books and those that utilize contemporary praise and worship music (CPWM). Using a child liberation theology framework, I examine the ways that prevailing ideas in parenting books have enabled a “parent-centered” model of musical worship in many evangelical churches. By observing the ways children are invited into or implicitly discouraged from participation in corporate musical worship, we can better understand the ways that CPWM practice might be reshaped in a more liberatory direction—one that will benefit children and adults, and foster a more radically unified church. Full article

This article uses two case studies to promote the idea that British evangelicalism is sometimes marked by the denial of inconvenient facts. First, it takes a critical look at the apologetic impulse to explain away the problems that Scripture sometimes presents and to deny their affective dimensions. Second, it considers some of the abuse scandals of recent years and the way in which the evangelical church has tended to respond by covering them up and silencing the voices of accusers. This response appears to be motivated by the fear of quenching what appear to be successful ministries or of tarnishing the reputation of the church. The common theme that these examples share is that they are motivated by the instinct to present the gospel in the best possible light, but this appears to stem from an unarticulated functional atheism that does not truly trust God’s people to the Spirit. As a remedy, two linked practices are proposed, drawing on the work of Eugene Peterson and Cheryl Bridges-Johns. These are Sabbath-keeping as a means of rediscovering the primacy of God’s presence and work; and the re-enchantment of Scripture by means of a Pentecost imaginary, which offers the possibility for the transrational. Full article

Working with young people is a key part of the story of British evangelicalism, both being formed by and forming evangelical Christian life. Exploring evangelical youth ministry through the lens of the origins of the Crusaders’ Union of Bible Classes (now Urban Saints) in the UK and demonstrating the shared threads and themes in regard to the Australian and US contexts, through studies of the InterVarsity Fellowship (IVF) and Young Life, respectively, key themes are revealed that embody an evangelical approach to working with young people. These themes, encapsulated within the overall practice of relationship building, focus on influential young people, charismatic lay leadership, and have an emphasis on fun. We further demonstrate the wider influence on evangelical church life encapsulated by this evangelical sensibility towards working with young people that endures, which is often unacknowledged. In addition, these themes suggest an operant theology that raises questions for the practice of evangelical youth ministry. The consideration of these themes can help us respond to some of the challenges faced by youth ministry in the UK and young people in contemporary culture. Moreover, the historical threads contain possibilities that might help evangelicals navigate a future in regard to working with young people. Full article

After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was the surprising growth of the evangelical population in the country, which reached almost 30% by the end of 2023. Several independent churches and denominations accepted NMM’s invitation to meet and participate in government programs specifically targeted at evangelical churches. Despite allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and violations of the Venezuelan constitution, some evangelicals created a narrative about NMM as the “protector of families” and as God’s chosen one to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Through acts of “identificational” repentance staged at the Miraflores Palace, a contrite NMM received prophetic declarations and prayers from apostles and pastors, and the country was cleansed of curses and satanic influences. This article seeks to document, analyze, and situate these discourses in relation to contemporary theological trends, as an important case of evangelical alignment with left-wing politics in Latin America. Moreover, the article also seeks to show how these events relate to the evolution of Venezuelan evangelical involvement in national politics, particularly under 25 years of socialist governments of Hugo Chávez Frías and Nicolás Maduro Moros. Full article

This article offers a theological reflection on the leadership discourse of four senior evangelical leaders in the Church of England. The justification for a discourse-led approach within the discipline of practical theology is that discourse is itself a socially informed practice. Discourse is constructive for meaning-making and has ongoing constituting effect for practice. Thus, any theological bias found in evangelical discourse is of interest since that discourse has a practice-shaping effect. Using the method of content analysis, I undertake an audit of four leadership texts to find out how often God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are referenced. The content analysis reveals a quantitative disparity. The Person of the Spirit is referenced far less, and any references to Spirit are qualitatively limited. These quantitative results offer evidence to suggest that a full account of the Divine Move that is Spirit, and the leading activity of the Spirit, fails to be disclosed in these texts. I suggest that these findings indicate an imbalance in the discourse which I hope prompts evangelicals to further reflect on, and explore, the place of the Spirit in their theology and practice. Full article

Contemporary science and religion discourse (SRD) is a large field encompassing various topics, from creationism against evolution to theological anthropology and artificial intelligence, though historically, what is meant by “science” is Western science, and what is meant by “religion” is usually Christianity. Moreover, SRD has been driven mainly from the North American context. The scope of this paper will thus be more focused on Western science and North American Protestant Evangelical Christianity, which hereafter will be referred to as simply Christianity or religion. In this article, I argue that SRD often arises from conflict or intersections where such interdisciplinary dialogue is needed to better understand the topic. However, this also means that topics that seem to agree between religion and science are not discussed in SRD. It is as if the goal of SRD, consciously or unconsciously, is to attain some consensus. Topics that have achieved consensus are not worth interrogating using the interdisciplinary approach of SRD. In this article, I will raise the topic of the holy war on obesity as a case example. From the medical and scientific perspective, obesity is a significant epidemic and problem. Similarly, Christians also see obesity as a problem that their churches can help by reinforcing the need for self-control as a virtue. The alignment of the two fields leaves this subject primarily out of the radar of the academic SRD. Yet I argue here that this unholy alliance needs to be questioned because locating the solution to obesity simply on willpower to lose weight and battle gluttony is short-sighted at best, misleading perhaps, and harmful at worst. This paper calls for a transdisciplinary approach to the SRD on obesity, emphasizing the need to address the multifaceted nature of the problem, which spans physiology, psychology, sociology, economics, culture, and theology. In overlooking the complexity of the problem with its various intersectionalities, both science and religion in SRD have colonized bodies and health. Inherent within this transdisciplinary approach is the exercise of undisciplining SRD and decolonizing bodies. The concept of “undisciplining” involves re-evaluating the problem beyond mere weight loss, addressing interconnected issues such as food supply, government regulations, capitalism, discrimination, and mental health care. The narrative of gluttony as sin, the war metaphor, and the methodologies employed by both religious and scientific communities need to be deconstructed. In conclusion, recognizing the entangled system in which all are complicit, the paper advocates for a more nuanced and comprehensive approach, free from the constraints of traditional disciplinary boundaries and influenced narratives. Full article

The ecclesiastical discourse in Britian over homosexuality has included a significant focus on the narratives and experience of LGBTQ+ people. However, the relationship between and respective authority given to human experience and the Bible within church debates remains a matter of contention, especially among evangelicals committed to ‘biblicism’. This study considers how even those unconvinced about experience as a ‘source’ of theology might still engage with queer narratives as an invitation for personal and cultural reflexivity and how the plausibility of theological claims might be tested whilst still prioritising Scripture. I examine testimony through a three-stage study. First, I conduct a narrative analysis of audiovisual recordings of my own prior practice of testimony as a celibate gay evangelical. Second, I offer up new, autoethnographic, thick descriptions of three pivotal crisis moments. Third, I theologically reflect upon these in relation to Romans 12.1–2 and the meta-theme of identity formation. I argue that LGBTQ+ testimonies have the potential to illuminate and thus transform heteronormative cultural patterns within the church; I argue that Christian identity formation must include the central integration of God’s identification of a person in Christ; and I attempt to model how Christians might cautiously discern God’s activity within a practice of testimony. Full article

From 2020 to 2023, I spent 3 years as the Prior of the Community of St Cuthbert based at St Nics Church in central Durham. St Nics is a classic UK evangelical city-centre church with a beloved history of Bible teaching, market-square engagement, and mission. In 2019 the church leadership discerned an opportunity to refresh the church’s (and wider) practice of discipleship by launching the Community of St Cuthbert, and I was recruited as its Prior. This article gives an account of some of the strengths and weaknesses of this endeavour, focused particularly on four issues: the importance of a clear, positive and upbuilding ‘rule of life’ statement; the core issue of how a Rule of Life can facilitate widespread missional discipleship in a dispersed community model; the importance of a clear marker of membership in the Community (and the difficulties around developing one); and the potential (albeit largely unrealised) to use the Community of St Cuthbert model as a way of establishing new worshipping communities. My own retrospective reflection as Prior concludes with two convictions that may be of relevance to those considering such a ‘Community’: the nature and challenge of keeping the focus on God rather than on policing practices; and the ways in which such a re-energising of discipleship can offer an evangelical contribution to the life of the whole church, rather than being limited to self-described evangelical churches. Full article